Religion: My faith is the primary focus of my life, influencing each part of me. I have been forgiven, cleansed, and empowered by Jesus Christ. Without him, I am a very thoughtful, competent idiot. With him, I am all I need to be, all I could ever hope for. I oppose institutional religious stagnation, but getting together with others is a good idea. God is real. Jesus Christ is his Son, and the Bible is true. Faith is not human effort. It's human choice. I try to be the most listening, understanding, and generous person I can.

As I noted before, with quite a bit of humor, I am a College Scholar at Elizabethtown College this year. But it is no laughing matter. I joked about it the night before, but walking into the convocation ceremony with my gown on, I realized how serious and exciting the honor is.

During the ceremony, I was surrounded by most of the students I most respect. We walked together into the room, and the administration of the college honored us and told us to hang in there until the end. Then they asked us, one by one, to stand, as they read our names to the incoming students, their parents, our parents.

I never stood taller in my life.

** * **

Of course, I'm still pretty short. Here's a picture of me with Ben Osterhout, a good friend in the honors program who co-presented with me at the National Collegiate Honors Conference last year.

No, I'm not in pain. I'm squinting. I haven't gotten outside much the last few weeks, and I'm used to low light , reading and typing in dimly-lit rooms. Just call me Gollum. With the sun bouncing off my head like that, I look like I could be gollum.